Chimcomplex managed to register a net profit of 49.65 million lei (approximately 10 million euros) in the first half of 2023 (H1), on a turnover of 790 million lei (160 million euros), down 34%. EBITDA was 25 million euros, with a margin of 15.6% of turnover. This performance is all the more remarkable as it was achieved while the company was operating at half capacity, company officials say.
The company has made considerable efforts to reduce costs and streamline operations in the first half of 2023. Expenses have dropped significantly, with a 49% reduction in utilities (electricity, natural gas, water) and 45% in all other raw materials. This contributed to an operating profit margin of 10%, despite the reduction in turnover.
In the 4th quarter of last year, Chimcomplex implemented measures from a four-level crisis prevention package that meant, among other things, a restructuring program for 389 positions and the temporary shutdown of some production facilities. These measures had a positive impact on the company’s financial situation, allowing it to close the first half of 2023 in profit.
“Chimcomplex, being a medium-sized company at the level of the European Union, managed to recover faster than the big players, showing a solid adaptability. In the next semester, we will launch three new measures that will absorb the turbulence generated by the multiple crises that Romania’s economy is going through. We forecast a stagnation of the European economy for the next semester, after which there will be an improvement in the prospects for the chemical market in Europe,” said Ștefan Vuza, President and CEO of Chimcomplex.
Chimcomplex has in its strategy an accelerated dynamic for the next 2 years and an ambitious series of investments supported by programs financed by European funds and PNRR. The company’s strategy focuses on concrete goals, including decarbonization, harnessing hydrogen energy, developing renewable green energy and diversifying production.
Moreover, in the first semester of 2023, Chimcomplex continued to invest in the energy of the future using the significant experience gained from the operation of the two existing cogeneration plants already on the Borzești platform. The investments made in the first half of 2023 included the works for the completion of the largest high-efficiency cogeneration plant built in Romania in the last 11 years. The installation of the third cogeneration group of 16.6 MW increased the energy capacity to a total of 49.6 MWh, energy that will be able to be used by the entire industrial platform Chimcomplex Rm. Vâlcea starting from September 2023.
At the same time, progress was made in the construction of the trigeneration plant, unique in Europe in the chemical industry. The installation will have an energy capacity above average for a trigeneration, i.e. a production of 8 MW of electricity, 11 MW of steam and 1 MW of cold. The investment will be operational by the end of 2023, to report the first results in 2024.
These investments will contribute to the efficiency of production and the sustainable growth of financial performance.
